Corisande: Twins Alone

Crispin's sour look returned as Harri wandered off, but his cousin's cheery demeanor seemed to have taken the edge off of it.

"Vialle wants me to move up to the castle," he said as soon as Harri was out of earshot. "To teach me some manners."

"Gah," Cori replied. "I'd be in Aunt Flora's way *all the time*." Her eyes widened suddenly as she considered the implications of Crispin's statement. "Or does she just mean you? Do they want to take you and leave me with Father?"

She took her brother's hand and held it tightly.

"I think it was just me," he admitted. He squeezed her hand tightly. "But they can't do it. Father'd have to say yes, and you know he won't let us be seperated! I don't care if she is the bloody Queen!"

Cori's lips pursed into an involuntary. "Maybe *I* should forget all those manners lessons Aunt Flora's tried to pound into my head. I won't let them take you, Crispin. Even if they try to make our father agree."

Most people had long since forgotten, if ever they knew, that Cori was the older of the pair. She rarely seemed to remember it herself, except when someone threatened her brother.

"Anyway, Uncle Random won't let her. He doesn't like you."

"I know." He smiled at her suddenly, a flare going off in his eye. "If they do it, I know I can make myself enough of a nuisance, he might send me back to the Manor in a carriage."

He turned, and suddenly the bag on his back was infront of him. She could make out the square of a book pressed into its side. "I got a bit father," he said in a sotto voice.

Cori leaned in, her own expression brightening. "What?" she whispered.

"Nothing big yet-- I think I'll need the later volumes for that. But there's something I can't figure out. There's two people he keeps referring to, and I can't figure out who they are." He leaned in even closer, his voice so low she would have thought he was saying a particularly nasty word. "Farve, and Mad."

Cori committed the names to memory. "If we spend some time up here with Harri and Alexius--not live, but just spend time--maybe we can look for information about them in the Library."

"Great! Maybe we can spend another night! And I'll snag a few more volumes, just for some cross-referances." He took her hand and started to drag her through the halls. "Come on. Let's get going before someone grabs us to do something else."

Cori pulled back, grabbing her brother's arm and using her weight to bring him to a halt before he really got going.

"We're supposed to go riding. And we're eventually going to have to show up at home, too. If we don't put on a good face, they really will think about dragging you up here. We can get the books this evening, before dinner, OK?"

He sighed, his eyes rolling up into his head. "Fine, fine, fine-- I can put on a good face. See?" He gave her a quick, overly-perky smile, then grabbed her hand again. "Come on! Day's wasting away!"

"Okay, okay! I think they went that way." Cori started down the hall she'd seen Wolf and Harri take.